Thread: Studio Trouble

Today I was meant to go to a chamber of commerce thing to network. The yoga studio (well, one of them) I rent from to teach classes called me several times repeating I had to wear business attire. OK. Then I was told I had to call them, it was an emergency, and the lady owning the place is having 'trouble representing me'.

I was asked to come meet with her during my work day, and I said I could not, as I only have a half hour break, and the lady said 'well you need to make an exception. You were lucky to be hired without meeting her.' I said 'Hired? I pay you rent, and at this point I am not making it back.' (I work for a very low hourly rate at my day job and need all the time there I can get). She said 'well you need to meet with this person.' After being talked down to all day long in various emails and phones (she tells me, in a shaming voice, your email doesn't work and neither does your phone...which is odd because both messages came through the phone and email...and demanded that I give her some other way to get ahold of me).
I told her I didn't like the way I was being treated and didn't think I'd like to continue to rent from them. She said I had to talk to this lady before I made that decision. I asked if I could call this lady. She said to call her back in two minutes, which I did, where she shamed me again and said it's necessary for me to meet with her and reiterated she was having a 'problem representing me'.

When I asked what that meant, she said she couldn't say, and then said this lady was 'willing to take time out of her day' to meet with me next Monday after I was finished with work...I realized that she'd called this lady during that time and when I asked again for her phone number it was not given. So I told her I was no longer interested in renting from them, and she said 'yes it definitely will not work out if you are unwilling to even meet with the owner of the establishment'.

The problem wasn't meeting with the owner. The problem was the attitude. I am not an employee! I pay rent there.

Now I am saddened and confused, somewhat hurt as well. The other yoga studio where I teach...nothing like this has happened at all. I also make more there than I do at the abovementioned place.

..cr.: ..cr.: ..c::

Thoughts?

...

I'm confused. What was the role of the person you were talking to who was such a pain? It sounds like she wasn't the owner, so what was she?

I think they are confused. If you pay rent then why do you need someone to represent you? And if she hired you then why are you paying rent?
It makes me think maybe someone is uptight about bellydance and thinking it is not respectable so they wanted to meet you?
I think she was trying to make it out like you were not cooperating so she could tell the owner about it.
If that's not what the problem is, then I am lost...

Good riddence, take that time on "monday" to go find another place to work. It will come around, check out community centers, other studios, etc.....Even if you cant find a place that is permanant go to the other local belly dancers and tell them the situation, see if they cant help you set up a few work shops in your specialty....ie shimmies, veil, zillz......see if you cant pull a few students to your other location......

Good luck!

I'd be dumbfounded too....time to move on...

One way of saying they don't approve of belly dancing?

You know, that's what I vaguely thought as well. What I wondered was: if they thought bellydance was offensive, why did they hire me in the first place? But that is an assumption.

Person in question was the receptionist. She refused to give me this lady's phone number (the owner, that is) so I could discuss directly.

I do teach somewhere else, where I have several more students. The owner there is the nicest lady ever (one of those people who is so nice that you get teary eyed around them), and I see her once in a great while. Whenever I see her, she's incredibly positive and encouraging.

I'm just surprised I was 'hired' at this other place, which I wasn't, and told what to wear. I was also annoyed because I was told I'd 'have to make an exception' and lose money to come over to meet with the owner, but the owner was 'taking time out of her day' to meet with me. I didn't like the language or the attitude at all.

I did go to the chamber of commerce thing anyway...under my own name, in the outfit I was wearing. (The receptionist was having a problem because I told her I was wearing a tank top...a WORK tank top, a fancy one, as I was already at my office job. When I arrived to this meeting with the chamber, every other woman there was wearing a tank top or spaghetti strap dress)

It was free and they served free food and liquor. It was my way of being my own business owner, I suppose, and saying ha! to those people. I may have gotten a lot more students...for the other place I teach at.

I thought perhaps I'd done something wrong (tends to be what I always lean towards, comes from a lifetime of being in trouble). I'm glad to see you all think it was as bizarre as I thought it was.

Okay, now that I understand the situation better, here's my take on it as an MBA and a business manager...

Receptionist appears to like bossing other people around, which is explains why the way she behaved toward you was rude. Now, Owner may want Receptionist to screen people's access to her, but it sounds as though Receptionist has taken this to a ridiculous extreme.

It sounds really odd to me that you don't already know how to contact Owner directly - I rent studio space, and I know how to contact Executive Director (it's a non-profit) directly. In fact, I contact her frequently. Who on earth did you deal with when you signed your rental contract?

Now, Owner probably has strong feelings with respect to how her studio is represented to the public, and it's understandable. Her money and reputation are closely linked to the studio. She was probably alarmed that a person she apparently has never met was going to be attending a function and "representing" her studio there. Even though in your eyes you were only representing yourself, I can see where she's coming from - if you were promoting classes held at her studio, then yes, your attire and behavior could potentially reflect on her.

She probably has a certain professional public image she wants to cultivate, and she's probably very cautious about not wanting her teachers to do something that would undermine it. Maybe there was even a past situation in which one of her renters did do something stupid that damaged her public image, it's hard to say. The reason she wanted approval authority over what you would wear to this event was probably that she wanted you to convey an attitude of professionalism on behalf of her studio consistent with what she herself would convey.

What you do next depends on how much you value offering classes at this studio. If you like the studio itself and want to keep offering classes there, then you need to meet Owner as soon as possible and establish a relationship with her. You need to eliminate Obnoxious Receptionist from being the middleman. It's entirely possible that Owner is a decent person, and Receptionist is the only real problem.

Now that you mention it, Shira, EVERYTHING in the above post was the receptionist. Even the dress code thing (she called my boyfriend to tell him twice in the same day and emailed me about it). I've never spoken to/called/emailed the owner. The problem is that the owner's listed telephone number and email are the main ones for the studio, both of which go through this receptionist. If there was a way I could call the owner directly that would be one thing.

The place is beautiful, the dance studio is very small but I do my intensives there so it's semi-private. I've had a nice experience there aside from the receptionist. Oh, and I signed the contract with the receptionist also. I remember dimly that when I signed it she kind of scolded me for doing it at a time that was good for me because the 'owner was planning to meet me' and she was displeased that I didn't shuffle my schedule around to accomodate Owner.

Originally Posted by BreaMorgiane

The place is beautiful, the dance studio is very small but I do my intensives there so it's semi-private. I've had a nice experience there aside from the receptionist. Oh, and I signed the contract with the receptionist also. I remember dimly that when I signed it she kind of scolded me for doing it at a time that was good for me because the 'owner was planning to meet me' and she was displeased that I didn't shuffle my schedule around to accomodate Owner.

Hmmm, it sounds as though you would like to continue using this studio if you could solve the problem of Receptionist's behavior. Knowing only what you've posted, it almost sounds as though Receptionist may feel a strong loyalty for Owner - might even be a close friend or relative of Owner. Receptionist may feel that your repeated failure to make an effort to meet Owner is being disrespectful toward Owner, and perhaps that is a factor in her behavior.

I think you need to meet Owner as soon as possible, and establish a rapport.

I recommend stopping by in person to see Receptionist (because it's harder for her to say no when you're standing right in front of her) and say something like, "I felt bad that I wasn't able to stop by to meet Owner that day. I agree with you that it would be a really good idea for me to meet her. Is there any chance you could help me set up an appointment with her so we can get to know each other?"

UPDATE: OK. Other receptionist was there, and so was Owner. I finally talked to Owner for the first time. When I explained the situation, she said 'Yes, I love how she's like that, very BUSINESSLIKE, I've worked with her for years'. She's calling this insulting receptionist 'businesslike', as if shaming people was something good to do?! She also reiterated, basically, how important she was/her schedule was opposed to mine, that I needed to be a 'team player' if I was going to 'work' there. I told her that based on what she first said (the 'businesslike' thing about the receptionist) I had my answer right there. I told her there was a big difference between 'rude' and 'businesslike'. She did that 'shaming' thing too...do you know what I mean by 'shaming'? Like making you feel bad for not doing something you didn't even know you were supposed to do? The way a particularly snooty king would treat his subjects, I think. I have one last night to teach there.

Receptionist of course only told Owner that I 'absolutely refused' to meet with her. That is NOT WHAT HAPPENED AT ALL. And Owner says she'll 'investigate'. Uh huh. Receptionist's word against mine.

Oh, and I also only had one student there. When she discovered this, Owner said, "You only have one student? I thought you had a following" again in that shaming voice.

All of my other students are at the OTHER STUDIO.

What a nightmare.

Good lord...if you only had one student there, why hang onto it??? Does your rental contract extend for a certain period?

Originally Posted by BreaMorgiane

I finally talked to Owner for the first time.

Well, this puts a whole new light on everything. You now have useful information - ie, what Owner's personality is like. Since you only have the one student there, I suggest making a decision on whether to continue with this studio based on what you think of Owner.

Hi,

This was the first month (I was trying it out). Sunday is the last day of the first month. I was insulted by her saying 'I thought you had a following'. I have quite a few students at my class in the other studio. *sigh* I have to say I don't think highly of the owner at this point. She seems to just be an extension of the receptionist, one of that type of businessperson who thinks they are the king/queen and their peons must bow to them. Yick. Or maybe that's how most businesspeople are, I don't know, I've mostly been a deckhand/bouncer/security guard. I don't do 'nice' so well. Or 'grovel'.

There's only one thing worse than a power hungry secretary, and that's a boss of same that backs her up. Cut your losses.

Originally Posted by BreaMorgiane

Hi,
I was insulted by her saying 'I thought you had a following'. I have quite a few students at my class in the other studio.

It drives me nuts when studio owners pull this, especially when you are paying rent. WTH does she care how many students you pull in, as long as she's not losing any money? As far as I'm concerned, when you are renting from a studio, you're their customer, not their employee. As long as you pay your rent on time and follow the guidelines of the rental agreement (lock up the building, don't leave a mess behind, turn off the lights, etc.), they should not be crawling up your butt. A friend of mine is having similar issues with a studio she rents, and I just don't get the mentality.

Laura2 : I think it's all the more frustrating because the OTHER studio owner meets with me on occasion and tells me 'if I build it, they will come', to ask 'the universe' for help, and that I am a spectacular dancer and teacher. Generally I tend to cast the hairy eyeball at that kind of stuff but she seems really sincere.

She gave me one of the nicest compliments I've ever had as a dancer. I recently moved here so it wasn't like a million people fell from the sky into my class, and I felt discouraged. This owner kept telling me she wanted me to stay, and asks if I would like a hug, etc. She's the type of yoga studio owner that I suppose I imagine in my head. ..g.: I wrote that lady this morning and told her she was a wonderful person. It really makes you appreciate people like that.